The name was changed to Palácio Rio Negro in 1918 when the palace was purchased by the governor of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, Pedro de Alcântara Bacellar.

In addition, with the onset of World War I, the navigation line between Manaus and Hamburg in Germany was interrupted, which greatly undermined the business of Scholz.

Scholz, president of the Commercial Association of Amazonas from 1911 and consul of Austria since 1913, in an attempt to resolve his debts, mortgaged the residence for 400,000,000 réis (the currency of Brazil at that time) to a rich rubber trader of the Purus (a river in the Amazon region), Luiz da Silva Gomes, who later purchased the residence at auction.

At first, the Scholz Palace was rented to the government of Amazonas, for 1,000,000 réis per month, through the governor, Sir Pedro de Alcantara Bacellar, in spite of the economic crisis in the Amazon region, the shortcomings of the state secretary of finances and the criticism of his opponents.

In 1995 the government of the state of Amazonas transformed the palace into a museum, telling the story of rubber in the Amazon region, and an important center of cultural events for the city of Manaus.